Kaldorei are not a matriarchal society. This society doesn’t put women above men. Men and women are equal, they just have gender roles relating to jobs. Priestess/sentinel = female. Druid = male. But the game has slowly began dismantling these gender roles, by showing men can be priests, women can be druids.
Kaldorei as they are now, as Night Elves, are an egalitarian society.
Yeah I remember hearing about that. That they went with that name, because boys might not buy fantasy books obviously written by a woman.
It made me a little sad, but it was a choice that paid off for her. Not sad for her, but sad that a female’s name possibly being a turn off to young men.
It reminds me of some young boys I know who did not even want to be seen walking into Wonder Woman, but their mother was always a huge fan. One of the boys was more respectful, but the older one was like “mom, that’s a girl movie”
Funny, even to this day there’s a debate if Mary Shelley actually wrote her books, since they were originally credited to her husband Percy, or Wlliam Godwin.
Anyway, Niel Gaiman (once he got past the Manic Pixie Dreamgirl phase), Terry Pratchett and Charles DeLint are all male authors who do a good job of capturing The Western Female Experience.
Well, from my perspective, anyway.
Like I said, an empathic author who does their research can write credibly and with authority about something they didn’t personally experience. Obviously, there’s a lot of room for missteps there, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
I almost didn’t want to bring her up, because there is still controversy. I figured someone would say “she didn’t even write it” or something.
I do not have the energy for that debate. But I risked using her as an example anyway.
My point was a lot of women wrote things that were either creditied as anonymous, or falsely credited to male editors.
My kids when they were small didn’t care if there was a female lead. My youngest for a bit even loved Lisa Simpson and saw himself in her.
Now, I think because of peer pressure and the fact they are now pre-teens, they are rejecting “girly shows” and female role models. It’s kinda sad.
I mean, there’s still people arguing Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare. Too poor and uneducated, etcetra.
…One of the proposed alternate authors is female.
Anyway, that’s liable to be a load of hooey, too.
I believe that conspiracy theory Shakespeare was female. Shakepeare ‘got’ women in a way that only women get women.
A lot of the arguments are rooted in the classism of the time.
But, I mean, a man who listens and talks to everyone can “get” women. Just like a woman who listens to men and talks to everyone can “get” men.
To circle back to Harry Potter, whatever else, you’ve got to admit he’s not an unconvincing teenage boy. Despite JK never having been a teenage boy. Or a wizard.
Shakespeare is a good example.
It probably says alot about me… but when I first read The Merchant of Venice, I saw Shylock as an aggrieved party and most of the rest of the cast as indulgent clowns. It was a school assignment to read it. I already loved Shakespeare, and I finished it ahead of the class.
Boy, was I surprised at how everyone else saw the story. Or rather , how the teacher was dictating “the take” we would be tested on. That Shylock was the bad guy, and the rest of the cast was fighting for love and other stuff. Whatever.
(I guess even back then I had sympathy for “villains.” Is being a Shylock fan being an edgelord?)
Anyway, tying that to your quote - Shakespeare likely was not Jewish. But he wrote a Jewish Character that strikes alot of chords to this day. Al Pacino and other great actors (who are not jewish) play that role.
In school, people were graded on the textbook interpretation, but as I got older, I saw that other people have shared my opinion, and seen Shylock as more than just some antisemitic caricature. He is a developed character with transcendent motivations.
Do you think this was always the case?
It still is the case. The top organizations, and it’s iconic leader are all females. The fact we’re still arguing this is soo silly really
Yes. There’s a disagreement on what a matriarchial society actually is. The technical definition is any society lead by a woman, but it’s more than that. It’s a society that prioritizes women over men.
I don’t think the Kaldorei prioritize women over men.
I agree, I was just clarifying Mithonic’s position.
So if a lore statement said they were matriarchal at some point, would that change your mind?
It would depend, if that lore statement reasonably explained why and how, instead of just making a statement without proof.
Couldn’t we accept they’re a society that prioritizes men over women without knowing why and how?
They are an egalitarian society.
That’s my opinion.
Sentinels have authority over safety. Priestesses have authority over faith. Druids have authority over nature, etc.
I understand your opinion. I’m not here to contest that.
But hypothetically if a developer said they were matriarchal, we could accept that’s true without knowing the specifics, right?
I would accept that it is a very basic reading of Kaldorei society.